Spring and Planting

The seasons flow through the cycle bringing change to our environment. Now, we are experiencing the wonderful change and growth that happens in spring. One of the main ideas we want to focus on with the young toddlers is the sense of love and appreciation for the wonderful world in which we live in. Sometimes the leaves are orange. Sometimes they are green. Other times there are no leaves and it snows. There are just so many wonderful things to see and explore in our world!

Together we looked through our portfolio binders of photos of ourselves from the beginning of our year when it was fall time. We saw ourselves playing in colorful leaves that have fallen to the ground. Then we flipped a few pages further to see pictures of ourselves outside in the snow. Tree branches were bare and we were all bundled up in warm, cozy jackets. The children talked about what they saw in these photos. They pointed out the details of the environment. We were able to use this realization and knowledge to differentiate with this season and what is happening now in spring time.

To continue on our awareness of what springtime looks like, we went on a walk outdoors through the forest to take a closer look at what is happening now outdoors. The trees looked so alive! We found white flowers and green leaves growing on the trees. We felt wet, cold soil with our fingers. We took off our shoes and socks to run freely on the grass and feel the soft green grass with our toes. We watched as the water in the river quietly flowed. We smelled yellow flowers and listened to the sounds of birds chirping.

The children have learnt a new motion song to help us know what a little seed needs to help it grow.
Tune: “The eensy weensy spider”
“I plant a little seed inside the ground.
Out comes the yellow sun, big and round.
Down comes the raindrops, trickle, trickle, trickle.
Up comes the flowers, grow, grow, GROW!”

We then had the opportunity to plant flower seeds to grow into flowers. First we decorated our planters by using our fine motor muscles and dexterity we ripped colored tissue paper and crumbled them into small balls. We then chose a planting pot and glued the tissue paper to decorate.Next, we filled our pots with soil and put in a seed. The children were excited to know that, “Seeds hiding in there!” We are learning to care for our plants as each day we carefully pour in some water for the plants to drink, and watch as the soil soak it up. We have noticed that our plants have started to grow! We are excited for what is to come. We can't wait to see the flower come out.

Now that it is spring and we have been talking about seeds, we wanted to give the children more exposure to seeds and the many places they are found. It is surprising to us the many everyday places we encounter seeds. We therefore stop to point out the yummy food that we eat and where we could find its seeds. Some seeds are small, some fruit only have just a few seeds and others have many. It is exciting to see what we will find when we open a fruit or vegetable. As we opened the fruit or vegetable to reveal the seeds we placed them in a little container and labeled the seeds with a where they were found. This is a great opportunity for you to continue doing this at home as you prepare lunch or supper to help bring your child into the process and learn more about the things they encounter each day. Thank you to all our friends who brought in yummy fruits and vegetables to open and see what’s inside. It is so nice for the children to taste the many different healthy foods and enjoy it with their friends.

Our class is growing!
We would like to welcome our new classmates, Dana and Gabriel.
Everyone has been settling in very smoothly as the class has been very helpful in welcoming our new friends and helping them acclimate to their new class.

Congratulations to both the Demcsak family and Kiessling family on the birth of a baby girl. This is a big time for Dylan and Maggie as they moves into their new role as a big brother/sister. We wish the whole family much joy and happiness in raising your growing family.

Morah Chaya and Morah Chaya